Dragon Ball Z

Ok, ok, so I may be biased because DBZ may be one of my favorite shows of all time, and if not my favorite Anime`- EVER! But who cares? I love this show. And I loved Dragon Ball (although I must say that the American dub of Dragon Ball is for more of the 11-under crowd if you ask me) Now, allow me to tell you my testimony of how I came to love the Dragon Ball series....

When I was in Kindergarten-first grade or so, I saw my first episode of Dragon Ball. I was sick and home from school, and it was airing on Fox Kids I believe. It came on after Bannana's in Pajamas. (God save my soul, I hated that show.) Well, I've been one who has followed and practiced Martial Arts my whole life, and since I was a huge fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (and since I was sick in bed) I decided to watch Dragon Ball. I laughed, and smiled, and of course enjoyed it. I can't tell you exactly what I remember, Master Roshi and his island come to mind at best. Well, over the years I skipped through the episodes, never exactly becoming "hooked" and die hard. That wouldn't be for another few good years. In 5th grade, my friends were Role Playing Dragon Ball Z during recess (it had just started to air around that time.) Of course, I wanted to role play with them, but didn't know-or remember- any female characters. They had me play as Bulma. All that came to mind was blue hair (and one of my friends complained of me playing Bulma because they had to play Yamucha. Go figure) Years still went by and it wasn't until around the 6th grade did I start watching. Over the summer I'd be wtaching Frieza or Garlic Jr. reruns, and my younger cousin and his friend would make fun of the show. (I tell you now: DBZ isn't just about people screaming at the top of their lugs with beyond steroid possible muscles and beams of light shooting from their bodies.) And when the time came of the Android/Cell saga, I WAS OFFICIALLY HOOKED!!!!!! DBZ is the first show I've come to obsess over, and even though I am a 15 y/o female, I don't care. If fighting and mountains blowing up appeals to me, then too bad!!!!!! DBZ ROCKS!!!

P.S: Like I said in my above comment about screaming and muscles and lights, it is beyond that. The show talks a lot about courage, friendship, and loyalty. Though the American edited version may not be AS good as the Japanese version, I still find it great. And it may take a while to understand the principles of DBZ if you start watching in the middle of a saga, but keep watching- it may take time (like me.)

Akira Toriyama has definitely created a classic.

This was a childhood favourite of mine. Even as a child I found it much better than Pokemon and Beyblade, both of which I found predictable and repetitive, and I still do. Along with Avatar:The Last Airbender, Dragonball Z is one of the most creative, coolest and most epic cartoon series I have had the fortune to see.

The animation is really quite impressive, and doesn't show its age. The backgrounds have an ethereal quality to them, the colours are eye-popping with unique shades to them and the character designs are impressive too. Also the visual effects are very, very good and enhance rather than distract, and there is some great-looking animation in the well choreographed fight sequences.

The music is another strong asset. Not just the iconic theme tune, but the background music fits perfectly. The stories have outstanding ideas and mature themes and any conflict is done in a resourceful and compelling way. The writing is also excellent and induces thought, the characters are immensely likable with great personalities and the voice acting fits the characters perfectly.

To cut a long story short, this series is really quite wonderful. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This won't give you the best impression the first time you see it but it just keeps getting better and better and can eventually become dangerously addictive. It takes action and story to all new levels. A lot of the dialog actually does make sense even if sometimes cliché'd. This is actually one of the few shows that is actually worthy of all the hype and popularity surrounding it. Although it may drag a lot, and the characters spend a lot of time staring at each other, what eventually happens at the end makes up for the waiting. I've only seen this up to the end of the freiza saga and that saga was slightly less impressive than the former few sagas. As the sagas progress, you'd better start seeing the uncut versions instead.

Dragon Ball Z was, to many, one of the most influential cartoon series ever in the world. When I was younger I grew up watching the whole series from start to finish, read the comic books, and played the video games. The Dragon Ball Z series contain some of the most charismatic characters, great fighting sequences, and strong plots that covered thousands of years. Originally created in the 1980's, it's truly a blessing that western audiences finally gets to see it in english. However I wish the series would start from the very beginning, the story when Son Gokou was a courageous little boy who uses his innate fighting talents to help out others.

It's only a shame though that the western TV version are heavily censored, causing disorientation and lack of flow to some of the original fight scenes. The Japanese version showed no-holds barred violence and the use of strong words (aka swearing), creating emotional tension that is not present in the english-language version. Also, die-hard Dragon Ball fans out there will agree with me that the voice acting is nowhere as good as the Japanese version.

Still, revisiting Dragon Ball in any language still stirs some of the fondest memories in my heart. Kame Hame Ha!!!! See it's still there.

Highly recommended viewing.

I think DBZ and its predecessor are the best all round cartoons ever.

Some of the plots are thick with chunky bits. The fantasy behind it makes the fans want to be the characters (ive always wanted to be a super saiyan preferably Gohan teenager). The characters are cool funny and slick. Some of the best are vegeta, Android 16 and Trunks. Its got comedy, tons of action cool stories and sub stories. What more can you ask for in 20 mins.

The only other sagas that can beat this would be the LOTR/Hobbit saga and Star Wars. The whole saga past to present kicks ass. Wish I had the cash to buy all the episodes and movies.